Courage, but No Conviction

We just bought a round of fives or 5,000s. Nothing aggressive. That's 5,000

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

and 5,000

Texas Instruments

(TXN) - Get Report

and 5,000

EMC

(EMC)

. 5000

Nortel

(NT)

, etc.

We have no conviction, like everyone else, but we figure the market could just as soon snap right back as keep going down and we want to use the weakness to buy our faves.

We have no illusions about the market. It is totally repugnant. The

NDX

is particularly oppressive. We have to steel ourselves just to buy these fives. But we know that when it turns, it turns on a dime and we want some ammo on the sheets. Still playing very lean. Who can blame us?

Random musings

: Apologies I hear are in order as the site has been slow all day. Server problems. Also, lotta angry people on that

Q Logic

(QLGC)

conference call. You could roast marshmellows on that one.

James J. Cramer is manager of a hedge fund and co-founder of TheStreet.com. At time of publication, his fund was long Intel, Texas Instruments, Nortel and EMC. His fund often buys and sells securities that are the subject of his columns, both before and after the columns are published, and the positions that his fund takes may change at any time. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Cramer's writings provide insights into the dynamics of money management and are not a solicitation for transactions. While he cannot provide investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to comment on his column at

jjcletters@thestreet.com.